Adapted mainly from "The Complete Book of Cheese", by Robert Carlton Brown, 1955, and from other vintage sources. Articles on stilton, roquefort, swiss, cheddar, Camembert, feta, limburger, gorgonzola, fondues, and more.

Thursday, June 13, 2013

A form of "pot"
cheese is made in certain counties of Pennsylvania, principally
for local use. Production of this cheese on a factory
basis is now being attempted (Editor's note: in 1918!). The steps in manufacture
are about as follows:

(1) The home-made type of
cottage cheese curd is prepared, put into a crock or pot
and covered carefully;

(2) kept in a warm place (in
kitchen usually);

(3) stirred from time to time, until
it has ripened to a semi-liquid condition. This occurs
very rapidly under the attack of Oidium lactis accompanied
by bacteria. Within a period of three to seven days,
according to the temperature and to the water-content
of the mass, the granules of curd become covered with a
wrinkled gelatinous almost viscid mass of mold mycelium
beneath which is a layer of semi-liquid curd with a strong
characteristic odor and taste. This ripened or semi-liquid
part reaches about half the total mass in four or
five days at favorable temperatures.

(4) The vessel
is then placed in a larger vessel of water and heated over
the fire with constant stirring until the whole mass is
melted and smooth.

(5) Butter or cream, and salt or
other flavor is finally added, stirred in and the liquid cheese
poured into molds or jelly glasses to cool. If properly
made and cooked, the resultant cheese has a soft buttery
consistency with an agreeable flavor, which frequently
resembles that of Camembert cheese.